stubborn thief

Liu Chengzong himself didn't expect that entering Guanzhong was so easy.

When he was in Qinghai, he had already secretly thought about the situation of entering the customs [-] times in his heart, but the facts proved that people's imagination is still too lacking.

His army was divided into six groups, walking in the barren mountains and bald mountains, almost unimpeded all the way, the garrison troops encountered thought that he was coming to a battle, and defended themselves. As a result, the troops of the six groups came from Qingshui County so easily Panling Pass.

The dangerous Liupan Mountain is just around the corner.

This is a very bizarre thing, because with the state of the marshal's army on the mountain, there is no need for the Ming army to do anything, as long as someone comes nearby, it can bring enough trouble to Liu Chengzong.

Happily not.

Because Liu Shizi found that he was leading the army this time. When marching, dispatching, and commanding, he obviously felt that it was not smooth enough, and he was in constant trouble after only marching for more than 600 miles.

He knew where the problem was. The problem was that the brigade commanders were guarding the house and setting up defense lines. He alone led two brigades and ten battalions, a total of fourteen battalions. However, it is hard for him to lead the troops.

But with regard to the endless problems in this march, even if he is energetic and is the top figure in the platoon, two brigade commanders and ten generals report to work twice a day, the problems to be considered and solved will blow his mind.

Mental exhaustion is only secondary. The main reason is that the command hierarchy is too flat, which brings many unnecessary burdens and risks to the army. What's more, there are too many things to worry about, and it is inevitable to miss them. Problems in the army when walking to the Guanshan grassland and crossing Liupanshan It will appear.

From Qingshui County to Panling Pass is a mountain road, and it is especially difficult to walk with a turn. More than a dozen battalions are divided into six groups. When they arrive at Qingshui County, they must join forces if they want to cross Liupan Mountain. Sequence crossed the mountains, but there was a mistake in the arrangement. The six battalions were crowded on the mountain road where soldiers and horses could not be accommodated, and the road was blocked by luggage. The troops behind could not pass, and the troops in front could not go.

After half a day of congestion, more than 4 troops gathered west of Panling Pass, leading horses and mules to deliver supplies on the mountain. The scene was spectacular.

The trouble caused by the large number of people is exponentially rising, because the number of things such as wells, firewood, and horse grass on the land is limited. Once the soldiers and horses passing through a place in a short period of time exceed the limit of the land, it will make the soldiers work hard in their daily work. The time spent in it doubles.

The firewood that can be collected nearby can only be found five or six miles away, and the water from the well is not enough to distribute, so the time to start the fire and eat will be delayed, and it is time to eat the next meal after everything is done. It was getting dark before, and I walked fifteen miles on the last day.

The stalls in the Marshal's Mansion were too big and broken, and only a few people could take the lead.

The eldest brother went to Tianshan, Cao Yao is now attacking Ningxia in Gansu, Basang is stationed in Golmud, Xiaoduidan, Yang Yao is watching his hometown in Hehuang, and Wang Wenxiu is staying in Lanzhou to prepare for any eventuality.

Speaking of which, he has a lot of brigade commanders, and there are three of them beside him, one is Xie Erhu from the Mongolian brigade, and the other is Shi Xiang from the Lintao brigade, but these two are characters who can only command the troops of the headquarters.

There is also Zhang Xianzhong, Minister of Rites.

As soon as he said it, at the Panling Pass in the northwest of Longzhou, Liu Chengzong was looking at the formation map, Zhang Xianzhong entered the curtain and said: "Commander, there is a fight in the west, and the left barbarian sent a team of cavalry to chase Zhang Yichuan. It was buried too loosely, and it was shot out for twenty miles, and the cavalry stepped on a mine when they were retreating, and rockets were fired on the mountain, and the soldiers in the pond said that the bombing was very lively."

Hearing that Zuo Liangyu was deflated, Zhang Xianzhong's yellow face was filled with unresolved joy: "This bastard still has his day, but it's a pity he's too timid to personally lead the army to blow him up!"

"You don't need to blow him up, as long as you can scare him for two days, let us turn over from Liupan Mountain, and the soldiers will block him in Baoji, and he will have nowhere to run."

"Commander, my humble suggestion, if it doesn't work, call Commander Wang. Anyway, the army is blocked on the mountain. I guess we haven't reached Baoji before he comes." Zhang Xianzhong said: "If this continues, there will be trouble."

Liu Chengzong glanced at Zhang Xianzhong, and said in his heart that it was because you, the Minister of Rites, did not do enough work and had no prestige.

Originally, he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to ask Zhang Xianzhong to help him command the three small battalions in Gansu. Anyway, the official position of the brigade commander of the West Brigade is in him, so it is not in vain.

Never expected that the Eighth King's prestige and seniority in the commander-in-chief's mansion were too low, so it would be no problem for him to lead his old Xiying brothers who had about a thousand people left. willing.

The only person in the Gansu Third Battalion who has no objection to this decision is Ganzhou general Zhang Zhen... Zhang Zhen himself is a general without much aggressiveness. I have worked hard on my own, but I have not yet become a general.

He was afraid that Liu Chengzong's direct subordinate would be sent to pick up the leader at that time. After all, he was one of the low-ranking generals among the many generals in the marshal's mansion.

But his worry is purely superfluous. He only knows himself but doesn't know the enemy. Does Mr. Liu know what role you are?Leaving Zhang Tianlin and Gao Yingdeng alone, let you take the lead?over thinking!

The other two were different. Ding Guodong and Mi Layin, who had always followed orders, were not happy.

That Mi Layin was a thief alone, and Liu Shizi followed him to Gaotai City after he was surrendered, with the Ming army's helmet tassel in his arms.

But for such a person who can hide things in his heart, when Liu Chengzong asked him his opinion on being assigned to Zhang Xianzhong's bid, the corners of his mouth drooped directly, and he was filled with joy and anger.

He was very wronged, and said: "Commander, our brothers in Gansu fought with all their might, why did they fall into the hands of a member of the Ministry of Rituals, Wailang?"

When Liu Chengzong heard this, forget it, it seems that the Marshal's Mansion is the only one who is tempted by these two former Ming army generals.

They fought with their lives, and they wanted to follow behind him. Not to mention the merits of being a dragon, at least they were able to stand out and have a lot of room for improvement.

Attached to Zhang Xianzhong's bid, he was not persuaded or convinced. Anyway, he probably felt that the general was trying to marginalize us. If he didn't make it to Baoji, he would have the idea of ​​recruiting us anyway.

The problem is that both Mi Layin and Ding Guodong have the same thoughts, and the gang of arrogant soldiers under Liu Chengzong, Zhang Tianlin, Wei Qian'er, Gao Yingdeng, Luo Rucai, and Li Wanqing, are all Liu Boss, Tian Lao Er, and Grandpa No. [-] in the world. The role of San, can they obey Zhang Xianzhong?

This group of demons and ghosts didn't even regard Zhang Xianzhong, Minister of Rites, as an important member of the Marshal's Mansion, but only regarded him as the mascot of the Dun Taurus Khanate.

Each of them felt that they could survive the Eight Great Kings.

That day star Zhang Tianlin even came to Liu Chengzong with a shy face at the beginning of the war, and wanted to ask the Minister of Rites to play in his camp during the war.

What a sight to fight with the Minister of Rites!
"I've already sent someone there, but He Huang won't defend it anymore, let Marshal Yang guard the second line of defense—this is a natural danger."

Liu Chengzong shook his head as he spoke. He really didn't expect soldiers and horses to bump into each other. The road was too narrow and too few, but it seemed unnecessary to divide the troops to break through Pingliang for the march. It would be good for him to spread out the battlefield in Guanzhong.

Seeing that Liu Chengzong had made arrangements, Zhang Xianzhong didn't say anything more, only then saw the formation diagram on Liu Chengzong's desk, and asked, "Marshal, what is this?"

"Eternal Mountain Snake Formation."

Liu Chengzong said: "Liupan Mountain is not easy to cross. We are blocked here. We are afraid of danger, so we arranged the soldiers and horses camp like this."

As he said that, he glanced at Zhang Xianzhong in bewilderment, thinking that you, who lead soldiers in battle, don't know him?
Then he couldn't help but feel relieved that the Changshan Snake Formation was not a one-word long snake formation of a column, but a strategic arrangement that facilitated the rapid concentration of troops in all directions.

This name comes from the ancient legend of the Changshan snake. The snake is called Shuran. It has two heads. Touch one head and the other head will bite.

The so-called hit the head and the tail, hit the head and hit the tail, hit both the head and the tail.

However, the troops led by Zhang Xianzhong have always ranged from seven to eight hundred to as many as three to five thousand. At this scale, there is no need to think about quickly gathering troops.

"Changshan Snake, I think I have heard of it before recruiting scholars to read military books."

Zhang Xianzhong suddenly realized and nodded, but then asked again: "Marshal, what do these winds and clouds mean? The scholar didn't know before, so he could only follow the script. After he read it, I didn't understand anything."

"Ha ha!"

Liu Chengzong was delighted when he heard it, and said with a smile: "It's not the wind and cloud, it's the wind and cloud of the world, dragons, tigers, birds and snakes, from the eight formations, it's normal if you don't know, and it doesn't affect leading troops to fight."

"You can understand these things as soon as you teach them, but if you don't teach them, you may never know; those who don't lead soldiers don't know what it's called, and those who don't read books don't know what it means... I'm a scholar who leads soldiers. Want to know? I'll teach you .”

Zhang Xianzhong's thirst for knowledge is very strong, Liu Shizi just said it casually, but Zhang Xianzhong knelt down and kowtowed: "Please teach me, Commander!"

All of a sudden, Liu Chengzong felt embarrassed, he quickly helped him up and said: "Please get up quickly, this is not very important and difficult."

In fact, all peasant army leaders, as long as they are leaders who consciously kidnap scholars in mobile operations and are willing and able to spare time to study, they will definitely become a big deal if they don't die.

Of course, this is not because they are good at kidnapping, or they can really learn great knowledge, but it means that this person has extremely strong control over himself.

"The earliest formation was the Eight Formation. According to legend, it was set up by Feng Hou, the general of the Yellow Emperor. It was at that time that Heaven and Earth Fengyun, Dragon, Tiger, Bird and Snake appeared. In fact, it is a code name for the name of the team. You can change it to A, B, B, Ding or One or Two. Three or four, or front, back, left, center and right, which is popular today, is fine.”

Zhang Xianzhong was stunned: "Huh?"

That's it?

It's that simple?
Then my head is not in vain?

Seeing him stunned, Liu Chengzong couldn't help laughing: "It was so simple at the time. The so-called eight formations are square formations with eight vertical and eight horizontal lines. If it is small, nine people can be used; if it is large, 64 army formations can be arranged."

As he said that, Liu Shizi drew a nine-square grid on the table: "This is eight formations, because eight formations are used, but there are actually nine formations, and the ninth one is in the middle, which is zero. The master and general are in the middle, so it is also called holding Odd array."

"Eight formations, four positives and four strange ones, the fourth ones are the left blue dragon, the right white tiger, the front red bird, and the back black wu, which are dragons, tigers, birds and snakes; the four dimensions and four corners are the wind and cloud of heaven and earth, which is no different from one, two, three, four, in all directions, no matter which side When the enemy comes, it is always a combination of righteousness and surprise."

"It turned out to be a team banner, so since it's just a title." Zhang Xianzhong was still a little dissatisfied with this. This answer knocked his head too badly, and he still felt that Liu Shishi was hiding himself. Besides the four beasts, there is gossip, what is that?"

"Attachment."

Liu Chengzong laughed: "I have already told you the origin of the name of the Eight Diagrams. It has nothing to do with the Eight Diagrams. Even in the Tang Dynasty, its name was the Nine Army Eight Arrays, not the Nine Palaces and Eight Diagrams. The so-called Eight Diagrams is just a far-fetched It’s all about attachment, otherwise what does the battlefield have to do with us? The most capable generals should be those who tell fortunes and look at graves.”

Hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong was also happy. It turned out that these military formations were not too difficult, but because the nouns attached to them became blinders, making people unable to understand them at all.

On the contrary, with Liu Shizi's explanation, Zhang Xianzhong can easily see the difference between the ancient nine armies and eight formations and the modern five formations.

The nine armies and eight formations are three formations on each side, defending in all directions; the three-talent formation commonly used by the Ming army today is that the rangers cover in front, the front team strikes first, the jumping team immediately rushes in, and the garrison supports or outflanks.

The shape of the big array has changed, but in the final analysis, the thinking is the same.

"The ancients are human beings, so you can't trust their words, because not everyone in the ancients knew the art of war. Most of the formation maps handed down today are made by later generations in the name of the sages. Even if it is an ancient formation map, it will inevitably undergo revision."

"For example, until now, I have seen [-] or [-] formations. They all say that they are ancient formations, but most of them have cavalry. How could there be cavalry in ancient times? What's more, the name is Huangdi holding Qitu, the paper looks quite old, but there are not only rangers, but also artillery and blunderbuss, is this reasonable?"

Liu Chengzong laughed again as he spoke, but it was a pity that Lao Zhang couldn't receive his laughter at all.

Because Zhang Xianzhong is not a scholar, he has neither read the Four Books and Five Classics, nor had the opportunity to borrow books from gentry collections and anthology notes. His understanding of history is very limited, and his knowledge mainly comes from novels and dramas.

He was serious about studying culture, and actually started after he raised his army. Even though he has been learning from others, the things in his mind are still very limited.

He didn't think it was unreasonable for the Yellow Emperor to have rangers in front of the world's army, a cannon array behind, and a gun team in the middle. , very reasonable.

He still feels that the biggest reason for the demise of Shu in the Three Kingdoms is that Zhuge Liang was too obsessed with individual weapons, so Pu Yuan went to Xiegu to make three thousand knives.

Casting ten Franc cannons, Qi Shan still used it six times?
Liu Chengzong saw that Zhang Xianzhong was ignorant of what he said, and then realized that although his minister of rites was not illiterate, he also had limited knowledge of ancient things, so it was impossible to chat together.

Fortunately, the two didn't stay silent for too long, and someone soon broke the embarrassment.

Ma Xiang, the leader of Tangqi, rushed to the tent after the report, and saluted: "Commander, the movement of our army is known to the enemy. The enemy's Tang Jiuzhou Department in the north is heading south quickly. Counting its footsteps, we can reach Longzhou City tonight. !"

Liu Chengzong was not surprised but pleased when he heard the words, glanced at the map, raised his hand and tapped twice while supporting the table: "The person who fills Deng Qi's position is here, let's eat him first, and then go to surround Zuo Liangyu!" (end of this chapter)